Apparatus for cleaning machinery



July 27, 1943. e. w. ALLRED APPARATUS FOR CLEANING MACHINERY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 19, 1941 y 1943- G. w. ALLRED 2,325,023

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING MACHINERY Filed Feb. 19, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 O O O O O O O O O A Patented July 27, 1943 APPARATUS FOR CLEANING MACHINERY George W. Allred, Mayodan, N. 0.. assignor to The Bahnson Company, Winston-Salem, N. 0., a corporation of North Carolina Application February 19, 1941, Serial No. 379,679

4 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning machines, and particularly to apparatus for directing a blast of air over the machinery to remove dust, lint or other foreign matter that might interfere with the operation of the machinery.

The invention is particularlyuseful in textile and other mills where dust, lint, sizing material, or other light particles are produced within the room during the normal operation of the machinery. The lint and other material accumulate on the machinery and may result in damage to the machinery itself or to the goods under manufacture. In the case of textile mills, the yarn or thread may break when lint or dirt collects on the yarn or thread guides; and the needles of knitting machines may be damaged or broken, or they may fail to function properly when lint or other foreign matter accumulates on the needles or the yarn.

An object of the invention is to provide apparatus for cleaning machinery while the latter is in operation or while standing, the cleaning apparatus being of the pneumatic type and including nozzle structures mounted on or adjacent to the machinery to discharge blasts of air upon the same. An object is to provide apparatus of the character stated in which the nozzle structures are rotated by the discharged blast or blasts of cleaning air and thus direct the cleaning blast from each nozzle over a relatively large space. ,An object is to provide machinery cleaning apparatus including one or more rotatable assemblies of pipes with nozzle ends so directed as to rotate the assemblies when air is supplied under pressure to the cleaning apparatus.

More specifically, an object is to provide a cleaning attachment for a knitting machine .of the stationary guide and rotating cylinder type, the cleaning attachment including one or more nozzle systems rotatably mounted on the machine to discharge air upon the thread guides, the needles, and the head of the machine. A further object is to provide a knitting machine of the stationary guide and rotating cylinder type in which a nozzle system for directing blasts of cleaning air over the dial and needles is rotatably mounted on a support that carries the lower thread guides.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification when taken with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation, partly diagrammatic, of an embodiment of th invention as applied to a knitting machine;

Fi 2 is an exploded perspective view of the upper nozzle assembly;

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the lower nozzle assembly;

Fig. 3a is a fragmentary side elevation, on an enlarged scale and partly in section, of the hub of the lower nozzle assembly; and

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are plan, side and end elevations of an embodiment of the invention as applied to a spinning frame.

The knitting machine illustrated in Fig, 1 is of the type having stationary thread or yarn guides and a rotating cylinder but the exact details of construction are not of importance, so far as concerns the present invention, and have not been shown in the drawings. The fixed structure or frame of the machine includes an outer annular table I within which the cylinder of the machine is rotatably mounted, an inner plate 2 supporting the stud 3 that carries the lower yarn guide 4, the framework 5 and yarn rack 6 for supporting the yarn cops I, and the rod 8 which supports the yarn guide ring 9 and stop motion III. The construction so far described is or may be conventional.

In accordance with this invention, apparatus is built into or attached to the knitting machine to direct blasts of cleaning air over those portions at which accumulations of lint or dirt may give rise to defective operation or to damage of the machine. The customary method of cleaning the machinery is to blow or fan by hand into the air any accumulation of lint, dust or other material which may be deposited on the machinery. This improved method of cleaning the machinery by blowing the deposited material into the air within the room is entirely practical since most of the material will fall to the floor, be swept up and carried away, and the small remaining portion is not objectionable because this invention automatically keeps it from accumulating on the working parts of the machine.

The cleaning system includes a storage tank I I for air under pressure, a pressure manifold i2 which includes a valve I3 that is periodically opened by a timing mechanism I4 that may be an electric clock, time switch or a gear train operated from a motor or the power shaft that drives the knitting machines, and the branch pipes I5 that extend from the pressure manifold I2 to the nozzle systems at the several knitting machines of the mill.

Two rotatable nozzle systems are mounted upon the knitting machine to clean the stop motion and the cylinder. The upper nozzle system, as

shown in detail in Fig. 2, comprises one or more pipes I6, i6 carried by a hub l1 and each terminating in one or more nozzles l8, l8 that are directed downwardly towards the yarn guide ring 9 and stop motion Hi. The pipes l5, l6 extend in opposite directions from the hub l1, and the nozzles are tangentially inclined in opposite directions, as viewed from a point in line with the pipes l6, Hi, to effect an automatic rotation of the nozzle system when air is discharged through the nozzle or nozzles. A single pipe l6 may be used successfully for some applications. The hub I"! is mounted on a counterbored rod or a pipe l9 that is secured to the upper end of the rod 8 and stop motion 10 by the flanged coupended by pipe 22. Radial flanges or washers 2| retain the hub l'l against axial displacement of the pipe I9. A-pipe 22 extends from the pipe l9 to the branch pipe i5 of the air supply system, and the pipe is is circumferentially grooved and transversely bored in line with the hub I! to complete the air supply path to the pipes I6, [6.

The lower nozzle assembly is rotatably mounted below the yarn guide 4 and upon the supporting structure for the yarn guide. The support for the yarn guide 4 includes a stem 23 on an arm 24 that is adjustably secured to the stud 3 and extends through an opening in the cross bar 4' of the yarn guide, a washer or bushing 25 that is secured to or rests upon the bar 4, and a bolt 26 that extends through the washer 25, bar 4, stem 23, to thread into the arm 24. In accordance with this invention, the stem 23 is counterbored and circumferentially grooved to form a hollow air-supplying shaft for the rotatable hub 21 that carries pipe or pipes 28 that terminate in one nozzle or oppositely directed nozzles. The stem of securing bolt 26 is smaller in diameter than the hole in washer 25, bar 4', hub 21, and stem 23, thus permitting the passage of air through these parts to the nozzle assembly. In accordance with this invention, the supporting stud 3 as applied to the knitting machine thus provides an advantageous mounting for yarn guide 4 and a rotatable nozzle system that sweeps over and directs blasts of cleaning air upon the cylinder and needles of the knitting machine.

It will be apparent that the described nozzle systems will be rotated automatically by the reaction of pressure air escaping from a single nozzle or the oppositely directed nozzles of the respective systems. The timing device I4 is designed to open the valve l3 periodically for short intervals, for example to open the valve I3 about every 10 or 12 minutes for cleaning periods of about five seconds. The duration of the cleaning periods and the interval between cleaning periods may of course be adjusted to the different conditions encountered at any particular mill or shop. Alternatively, the nozzle systems may be supplied continuously with pressure air when a maximum cleaning action is necessary or desirable but a. satisfactory cleaning operation is usually obtained when the apparatus is operated intermittently to remove dust or lint from the machinery.

As shown in Figs. 4-6, the cleaning apparatus of this invention may be incorporated in or added to a spinning frame S of conventional or desired design.- A plurality of rotatable nozzle assemblies 30 may be mounted upon the upper plate of the spinning frame S and connected through pipes 31 to the branch pipe l5 that extends to the pressure manifold l2 and, through the timecontrolled valve l3, to the air pressure tank II.

It will be apparent that the cleaning apparatus may be employed with other types of machines and that various changes that may be made in the illustrated apparatus fall within the spirit of my invention, as set forth in the following claims.-.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cleaning a knitting machine of the stationary guide and rotating cylinder type having a yarn guide ring and stop motion carried by a vertically extending support, said apparatus comprising a nozzle system having a hub, means adapted to support the hub for rotation about a vertical axis on the upper end of the vertically extending support of the knitting machine, and at least one pipe extending horizontally and eccentrically from the hub and terminating in a downwardly directed nozzle, and means for conveying air under pressure to said hub, said nozzle system being rotatable by the reaction of air passing therethrough.

2. Apparatus for cleaning a knitting machine of the stationary guide and rotating cylinder type having an upper guide ring and stop motion carried by a vertical support, and a lower yarn guide ring carried by a stud supported on said machine above the rotating cylinder, said apparatus comprising a nozzle system adapted to be mounted on said vertical support above the upper yarn guide and stop motion and a second nozzle system adapted to be mounted on said stud, said nozzle systems each comprising a hub adapted to rotate about a vertical axis and at least one pipe extending horizontally and eccentrically from the hub and terminating in a downwardly directed nozzle, and means for delivering air under pressure to the hub, said nozzle systems being rotatable by the reaction of air passing therethrough.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the means adapted to support the hub for rotation on the upper end of the vertically extending support comprises a counterbored circumferentially grooved and transversely bored shaft having means at one end thereof for securing the same to the upper end of the vertically extending support and means at the other end for connection to said means for conveying air, said hub being rotatably mounted on said shaft over the circumferentially grooved and transversely bored portion thereof.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which the nozzle system which is adapted to be mounted on the vertical support comprises a counterbored circumferentially grooved and transversely bored shaft having means at one end for securing the same to the upper end of the vertical support and at the other end for connection to the means for delivering air under pressure and the second nozzle system is mounted on the stud which is counterbored, circumferentially grooved and cross bored and provided at its upper end with means for connection with the means for delivering air under pressure, the hubs of said nozzle systems being mounted to rotate about the circumferentially grooved and cross bored portions of said shaft and hub respectively whereby air under pressure is delivered to said hubs.

GEORGE W. ALLRED. 

